SIX people from Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes received special coins from The Queen at the annual Royal Maundy service.

2019 marks the second year that the Maundy Money has been given out at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in a tradition that began in the 15th Century. The six people from our diocese were among 93 men and 93 women from across the UK who were given Maundy Money. The number of recipients refers to the number of years of the sovereign’s life. In 2017 after her visit to Leicester Cathedral, The Queen had visited every cathedral in the UK for Maundy Thursday.

Each recipient of Maundy money is given two small leather purses by The Queen, one red and one white. The first contains a small amount of ordinary coinage which symbolises the Sovereign’s gift for food and clothing. The second purse contains Maundy coins up to the value of the Sovereign’s age. The coins are legal tender but recipients normally prefer to retain them as a keepsake.

The six people from the Diocese of Oxford who received Maundy Money this year are:

David Cooke
David (born 1931) was ordained at Michaelmas 1962 so has completed just over 56 years of ordained ministry. He was a classic country parson of the old school, but with a creative and artistic streak. He was hard working and found some of his duties gruelling, especially in the light of his own struggles with health (including a stroke) yet stuck with them faithfully. David served from 1970-2007 as Rector of Stone and Dinton. His care for parishioners was exemplary, as was his care for Cynthia, his wife in her final illness.

Christopher Hall
Canon Christopher Hall had a distinguished career in the Midlands and in Manchester before co-ordinating Christian Concern for One World in the Oxford Diocese for 10 years. He is being nominated because for almost 25 years he served as the Honorary Secretary of the Li Tim-Oi Foundation which empowers Anglican women as lay and ordained agents of change mostly in African dioceses. It is named after the first woman priest in the Anglican Communion who was ordained in China by Christopher’s father, Bishop Ronald Hall, in January 1944.

Penny Keens
Penny Keens has given a lifetime of service to the Oxford Diocese. She recently stood down after 42 years as a member of the Oxford Diocesan Synod. In addition to local engagement over the years as Deanery Secretary and Deanery Lay Chair Penny has also been a Vice President of the Diocesan Synod and Chair of its House of Laity. In addition to local community work, Penny has also recently taken on responsibility as churchwarden of a large central Milton Keynes ecumenical congregation. She is the Honorary Secretary of the Bucks Historic Churches Trust and a Trustee of the Bucks Clergy Charity.

Michael PennyMichael is an editor for the Open Bible Trust and a lay preacher who has served Reading faithfully, chairing Churches Together in Reading for nine years. He has also written and published commentaries and set up chaplaincy teams in a number of 16-19 colleges.

Judith Scott
Judith Scott has brought to her service of the church experience derived from senior roles in the IT sector and at Reading University. She has been actively involved in serving the Church both within the deanery as Lay Chair but also at Diocesan level acting as Vice President of the Diocesan Synod and Chair of the House of Laity as well as a number of its Boards and Councils.

June Vickers
June has worked as a nurse, school nurse and a community nurse. Her many roles include being a churchwarden, sacristan, server, carer of others and a Pastoral Care Co-ordinator. She takes communion to the housebound, has been a chorister and a verger. She co-ordinated Christingle for the Children’s Society for years, been a Guider and helps out with children’s and primary school activities. She is a Team Leader for Open the Book.